SCIENCE AND RELIGION 



In particular it is difficult to give a scientific 

 account of the "big lifts" in the history of the 

 world of life. It gives us pause to think of the 

 origin of Vertebrates, of Birds, of Mammals, of 

 Man. We cannot speak with much confidence 

 of the operative factors. In spite of this unsatis- 

 factory ignorance, however, the scientific mind 

 recoils with a jerk from the assumption of "spir- 

 itual influxes" or mystical powers of any sort 

 interpolated from outside to help the evolv- 

 ing organism over the stiles of difficulty. The 

 scientific task is certainly unfulfilled; it may 

 be beyond human attainment to complete it; 

 but we must not try to speak two languages at 

 nee. 



(c) In the third place, just as religion is often 

 associated with forms of belief which are unes- 

 sential to it, and which may be inconsistent with 

 scientific conclusions, so science often goes beyond 

 its own sphere and becomes associated with phil- 

 osophical doctrines which are unessential to it, 

 and which may conflict with religious convictions. 

 Thus, to take a familiar instance, materialism 

 is not a scientific conclusion, but a philosoph- 

 ical doctrine which many students of science 

 have embraced. And materialism is inconsistent 

 with most forms of religious belief and experience. 

 The point that we wish to make is that the an- 

 tagonism in this case is not between religion and 



